This invention relates, generally, to pipe liners that are used to repair buried pipes without excavation. More particularly, it relates to an apparatus and method that reduces the amount of time required to complete such repairs.
Methods of rehabilitating damaged pipes by inverting an tubular liner impregnated with curable resin are known. The known methods of installing a liner to repair a buried pipe, while it remains underground, involve inserting a liner into the pipe and forcing the liner into engagement with the inner walls of the pipe by inflating a bladder. The liner is impregnated with curable resins prior to insertion and the bladder must remain inflated until the resin cures. The time required for resin to cure, however, ranges from three to eight hours, depending upon ambient temperatures. Thus there is a need for an apparatus and method that provides a shorter curing time regardless of ambient temperatures.